JERSEY SURE
Nigel Thompson is awestruck on his first visit to the Channel Island
Thud! Thud! Thud! Sorry about the noise, it’s the sound of me kicking myself for never having been to Jersey before.
There’s no particular reason why, I’d just not been, and nor had my wife Debbie.
But thankfully that mistake has now been rectified. And splendidly so too. Getting there was a doddle for us: a 50-minute hop from Gatwick – there are flights from all over the UK – then out of the airport in moments. The friendly Hertz hire car desk staff had us heading to our vehicle in minutes.
We were staying at the four-star St Brelade’s Bay Hotel, one of the best properties in the Channel Islands. As we were not due to check in until 3pm we had time to explore, so carried on up the coast road past the hotel to St Aubin, a pretty little port with a fort reached by a causeway at low tide (more about tides later) and plenty of shops and cafes.
After a wander we found a stall by the harbour selling Jersey ice cream which cried out to be tested – passed with flying colours. We headed back to St Brelade’s Bay to have a look at the vast arcing beach, voted in 2019 one of the best in the UK. The voters were not wrong, it’s
glorious, with hotels, cafes, shops and restaurants fringing it. If someone showed you a photo in a holiday brochure and told you it was the South of France, you’d believe them.
Beach combed, hermit crab admired and ice cream walked off, we headed to the hotel, which lies in five acres of grounds on La Route de la Baie. We were delighted to be upgraded to a magnificent fourth floor penthouse suite, which had a lounge with tea and coffee facilities, a dressing area and a large bathroom with luxe amenities.
The suite’s undoubted highlight was the balcony with a showstopper view of the beach and bay.
We spent a lot of time there just enjoying that vista and taking an inordinate amount of photos.
While we were only at St Brelade’s Bay for a couple of nights, it’s well equipped for a proper week-long holiday stay with direct beach access, a great outdoor pool and cafe-bar with local beers in the lush, terraced south-facing gardens, a fabulous DW Health Club with a huge gym and indoor pool, and a spa (guests get free access to the health club).
Away from the garden cafe-bar, drinks are served on the sun trap terrace, in the main bar or in the large lounge.
Food is a standout feature at the hotel, with our dinner in the Bay Restaurant excelling. We both had the trio of salmon starter, with cod thermidor main for me and pan fried sea bass fillet for Debbie; every last delicious morsel was devoured, including superb local veg – Jersey Royal potatoes really do taste better than your average King Edward (Table D’Hote three courses £36.95).
Breakfast was a good buffet which set us up for a day of sightseeing, starting at Mont Orgueil Castle, in a fine setting high above the harbour at Gorey.
It dates from the early 13th century and is an island must-see. Entry is £13.40 but there are free guided tours and it’s worth joining one to really get the inside track on the long, rich history. The fact that it’s still standing is in no small part due to Sir Walter Raleigh who, as Governor of Jersey in 1600, rejected a plan to demolish it when a new fortress was being built at St Helier.
From the top you can see the coast of Normandy and the Ecrehous reef which has a history of its own, having been home to its solitary ‘king’ for 40 years in the 19th century and to an exiled
Jersey tides are truly remarkable and some of the world’s biggest
fisherman – for 14 years from 1961 – falsely accused of sexual assaults on children. Don’t miss the castle’s eye-catching medieval monarchy Tree of Succession artwork (jersey heritage.org).
From distant reefs we moved on to not so distant Sumatran orangutans at Jersey Zoo.
It was created in 1959 by naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell and really isn’t your normal, formal zoo.
Instead, there’s an engaging wildness and space about it and, while we were delighted to see a baby gorilla and scores of fascinating fruit bats, the highlight was being by ourselves on a viewing platform across a moat when half a dozen orangutans swung by for their lunch.
The largest tree-dwelling animals in the world tucked in heartily, played a little, eyeballed us a little and lolloped off happily back to their lofty perches. If you can’t see them in the wild, this has to be the next best thing (durrell.org £16.50).
A colleague had recommended the new-ish The Square bar/ restaurant in central St Helier so we checked it out that night, via a loosener at the nearby, friendly Troubadour pub.
Jersey ale battered fish and chips and a monkfish curry went down splendidly and we were almost as happy after scoffing as those orangutans (liberation group.com, mains from £10.95)
For the sake of consistency, we began day two with further extensive gazing at the bay from the balcony and drove to the northwest of the island to see the waterfall in a cave at Plemont Beach.
The high tide and boisterous waves meant we couldn’t go in, but we saw what is indeed a waterfall dropping into a cave; a lovely and spectacular spot. Those tides on Jersey are truly remarkable and some of the world’s biggest at almost 40ft. When they go out, they really go out and St Brelade’s Bay empties so much you wonder if you could walk across to Normandy.
At low tide the 45.5 square-mile island almost doubles in size and reefs, beaches, causeways, rock pools and oyster beds are exposed for six hours; of course, be very wary of incoming tides and check tide tables.
In the afternoon we delved once again into the historic side of the island with expert guide Marc Yates, of History Alive! Tours. We travelled back in time 6,000 years to Les Monts Grantez Neolithic passage grave in St Ouen, where eight skeletons were unearthed, and journeyed a mere seven centuries to the ruins of Grosnez Castle at the northwest tip of Jersey.
We returned to the hotel via Faulkner Fisheries, a seafood restaurant in a huge German gun emplacement, and La Corbière lighthouse.
An excellent and well-presented tour by Marc and highly recommended (historyalive.je Part Day Private Tour (1-6 persons) £195).
From Marc to Mark, and in particular the upmarket cuisine of the Mark Jordan at the Beach restaurant in St Peter. The food and service was as delightful as the beachside setting, with lobster thermidor and pan fried salmon mains (£25 and £18.50).
But it was my sensational freerange Scotch egg and piccalilli starter (£9) which stole the show. (markjordanatthebeach.com).
All good things come to an end and we were up early to drop off the hire car, say a reluctant farewell to this lovely island and catch that 9am hop back to Gatwick.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Sorry, there it goes again...
COVID AWARE
We travelled to Jersey in September and took part in the coronavirus test on arrival scheme, with notification of our [negative] results arriving well within the allotted 24 hours.
In the interim, as advised, we stuck to outdoor activities and remained socially distanced with masks and hand sanitiser used as appropriate – plus regular government text checks asking for our health status.
Check gov.je for Covid measures once it is safe to travel.